Max Obuszewski recalled how he learned in 2008 that there were Maryland State Police files on him, via discovery by the ACLU of Maryland and a pro bono legal firm:

…when I got back to Baltimore there was a message and an email from David Rocah of the ACLU saying “bingo, we have something.” And it was the Maryland State Police — they said we have one page — but you can’t have it, because there’s an informant’s name on the page. […] As it turned out there were many, many, many more pages. Initially it was thought that I was the only person in this database, but it soon came out there were at least 53…”

Max Obuszewski’s educational background includes a BSEE and an MBA. His rap sheet totals some 70 arrests and a few jail sentences, including one for six months for protesting Persian Gulf War I. His lifestyle is simple, and his political beliefs include pacifism, anarchism and vegetarianism. As a nonviolent activist who engages in direct action, he has attracted the attention of FBI agents, members of various police forces and NSA operatives. He has served time twice after arrests at the Central Intelligence Agency. Some of the groups he works with are the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore, the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, and Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility.